The new technique would not requre an artifical lens Photo: Clara Molden/The Telegraph

"An ultimate goal of stem cell research is to turn on the regenerative potential of one's own stem cells for tissue and organ repair and disease therapy," said Dr Kang Zhang, chief of Ophthalmic Genetics and founding director of the Institute for Genomic Medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

"The success of this work represents a new approach in how new human tissue or organ can be regenerated and human disease can be treated, and may have a broad impact on regenerative therapies by harnessing the regenerative power of our own body.

"We believe that our new approach will result in a paradigm shift in cataract surgery and may offer patients a safer and better treatment option in the future."

A diagram of the eye

Cataract surgery is now the most common surgical procedure undertaken in England with around 300,000 operations performed annually on the NHS. The procedure involves removing the clouded lens and inserting an artificial plastic version, called at intraocular lens.

But a large number of patients undergoing surgery are left with poor vision and still need to wear glasses for driving or reading a book.

The new technique removes the lens but leaves behind the lens capsule - a membrane that helps give the lens its required shape to function. Nearby regenerative stem cells are then moved to the membrane where they begin to grow into a new, fully functioning and transparent lens.

The procedure was carried out on 12 infants under the age of two who healed far more quickly and without complication compared with a group of 25 youngsters who had a traditional plastic lens fitted After three months, a clear, regenerated curved lens have developed in all of the trial patients' eyes. Nearly 300 babies are born with congential cataracts each year in Britain.

A patient undergoes testing ahead of a lens implant Photo: David Rose/The Telegraph

Dr Dusko Ilic, Reader in Stem Cell Science, King's College London, described the trial as a ‘remarkable accomplishment.’

“This is one of the finest achievements in the field of regenerative medicine until now,” said.

“The basic science research led to the hypothesis that preserving and stimulating stem cells in the eye might promote regeneration of a surgically removed lens.

“And indeed, their hypothesis was true. They proved it first by testing a new surgical approach in rabbits and primates before successfully treating 12 infants. It is science at its best.”

Prof Graham McGeown, Deputy Head of the School of Medicine, Dentistry & Biomedical Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, said the research could lead to ‘an important new treatment.’

“They showed that this new approach dramatically reduced the risk of sight damaging side effects when compared with the current ‘best practice’ treatment, which involves more destructive surgery followed by implantation of an artificial lens.”

In a separate study, scientist at Cardiff University and Osaka University in Japan showed that they could use stem cells to regenerate several types of tissue from the eye in one go.

When transplanted into a rabbit, the tissue was shown to reverse blindness, paving the way for human trials, which could see vision restored in people with a range of sight problems.

Professor Andrew Quantock, of Cardiff University, said: “This research shows that various types of human stem cells are able to take on the characteristics of the cornea, lens and retina.

“Importantly, it demonstrates that one cell type - the corneal epithelium - could be further grown in the lab and then transplanted on to a rabbit’s eye where it was functional, achieving recovered vision.”

Around 4000 corneal grafts are performed by the NHS annually, which rely on human organ donation.

Prof Julie Daniels, of UCL, said: "These two studies illustrate the remarkable regenerative and therapeutic potential of stem cells. Lens regeneration might also turn out to be possible in ageing adults."